Memories

LVI

WHAT A FEELING

'What a feeling to be right here beside you now
Holding you in my arms
When the air ran out and we both started running wild
The sky fell down'

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At some point, Nathalia had fallen unconscious again, and when she woke up, there was searing pains all over her body. She was lying on a concrete floor, hand in front of her face, and, beyond that, another body. She didn't associate it with Nathaniel's until she tried to sit up. Before that, though, she realised that there were burns and cuts all over her hand, and remembered immediately what  Lola had done to them. 

"I'm going to kill her," Nathalia's voice was harsh. She knew she'd been screaming, or at least crying, and it hadn't done anything to help her vocal cords that already hurt from months of yelling out at the nest.

"Aw, Princess, I thought we'd bonded back there in the car," Lola's voice said. Nathalia's head whipped as fast as it could under the pain towards Lola was sitting backwards on a wooden chair. "Woah, don't tire yourself out there," she said, feigning kindness. Nathalia clutched her head. The room was spinning, and she could only just make out Nathaniel also sitting up.

Nathaniel showed Lola his hands. "These are going to get infected if we don't clean them soon," He didn't look at Nathalia, but she knew he was directing his meaning at her as well. The burns and cuts were slightly puffy and Nathalia found it hard to close her fingers because of the cuts Lola had made on the inside and out of her palm.

"I wouldn't worry if I were you," Lola said.

"You're not us,"

Nathaniel stood and walked over to a sink in the corner of the room. He rubbed his hands under the water, forcing himself to put soap in the cuts and burns as well. Nathalia stood, knowing she'd have to do the same to her wounds. As she walked over to Nathaniel, he finished with his face and turned, holding his hands out to dry. Nathalia stopped in her place.

Nathaniel's face had two parallel cuts down his right cheek, which Nathalia had been able to see before, as well as a burn she hadn't. The burn was in place of Nathaniel's number five tattoo, and Nathalia knew that if they made it through this, Riko wouldn't be happy about it. She wasn't particularly happy either, but for a different reason. She couldn't believe Lola had done that. Permanently scarred Nathaniel's face with a burn. 

Nathaniel didn't look at her as he walked away from the sink so that Nathalia could use it. She did the same as her brother had, though she didn't have any wounds on her face. She didn't know why Lola hadn't burned her tattoo off, but didn't complain about having it ruining her complexion. The soap stung her cuts and burns, but Nathalia ploughed through and eventually hung her hands out in front of her too, letting them dry.

"How much longer is this going to take?" Nathaniel questioned.

"The waiting or the killing?" Lola asked. "The latter might take a while. It's not normally his style, but you've caused us so much trouble and money he might drag it out. Make an exception."

"You could have just let us go," Nathalia spoke. Lola looked at her as if she'd just said the devil walked the earth.

"Do not say such childish things."

The two of them sat down on the ground to wait. They sat across from each other, and Nathalia wanted so desperately to speak to her brother. To ask the questions burning on her mind, and to ask if he was okay. But instead she stayed silent with her head down, just as Nathaniel was doing. And they waited.

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"They're coming, we have to leave, now!" Thalia's mother called. Neil was already packing their things and checking their guns for bullets. Thalia collected her own things and followed her brother and mother out of the motel room. They ran quickly to the car they'd stolen and their mother started the engine.

Before long, they were on the road, driving at an illegal speed away from the small place in Seattle that had been just another stop. Just another place to lay low. Now they were driving as fast as they could away from that place. Away from Nathan Wesninski and his men. 

They went off the road and tumbled down a small hill. Soon enough, the three of them were out of the car with their things and Thalia only gave herself a second to check the car. It had a blown tire. They'd been shot at. 

"Come on!" Neil yelled and grabbed his sister's arm as they stumbled away and into the forest.

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When the door opened at the top of the stairs, Lola was standing in a heartbeat. Nathaniel looked up, but kept a look of impassiveness on his face, as he hoped his sister was doing. 

Two years behind bars hadn't aged his father a bit. Aside from a few lost pounds, Nathan Wesninski looked the same now as he always had. He didn't have any shoes on and was wearing black jeans and a button up shirt. It was clear he didn't find the need to dress up for work, despite his wealth. He liked getting dirty. Suits would only make things harder.

"On your feet," Nathan said. "You know better than to sit in my presence." Nathaniel did, but Nathalia stayed sitting. Nathaniel didn't dare look down at his sister, though his father did, that cruel smile on his face that Nathaniel had inherited.

"I thought I said to stand, Nathalia," Nathan said. Nathaniel could see Nathalia out of the corner of his eye. She looked up at their father and smiled. In all their years on the run, Nathaniel had never seen his sister smile like his father. But this smile she had now. This was almost scarier than Nathan's look. She meant it. She was going to kill Nathan if he didn't do it first. Even as wounded and injured as she was.

In the end, Lola forced Nathalia to her feet by dragging a blade up her back, though she still had that terrible look on her face. "Now that that's settled," Nathan said, looking between his children. "Hello Junior. Princess."